Two-left-feet Cable would stand on too many toes in the Coalition if he was Lib Dem leader

Business Secretary Vince Cable is now being openly touted as the successor to Nick Clegg as leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Furthermore, it is even suggested that Cable could supplant his present party boss 'within a year'.

All this speculation is being put about by the Lib Dem peer, Lord Oakeshott, who is a bit of a rebel himself.

Plotting? Business Secretary Vince Cable, left, could destroy the Coalition if he usurps Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg 'within a year' as some suggest he could

The first thing to be said is that most Tory MPs would rejoice at the downfall of Clegg who favours the sort of policies which traditional Conservatives find abhorrent.

But despite all that, would they be prepared to stomach in Clegg's place a man like Cable, once a Labour politician, who has demonstrated he is even more anti-Conservative than the present Deputy Prime Minister?

Some of Cable's disparaging remarks about his Cabinet colleagues would have earned him the sack in a single-party government rather than a Coalition which is already threatening to burst at the seams.

Cable is said to have been having secret talks Labour leader Ed Miliband about the prospect of forming a Coalition after the next general election

Of course, there is a bizarre
alternative: even if Cable did usurp Clegg, Cameron would be under no
obligation to make Cable his new deputy, or even have a Deputy Prime
Minister at all.

But such an unlikely situation would probably lead to the premature death of the Coalition in any event.

Cable
is certainly more in tune with Liberal Democrat thinking than Clegg,
who has been accused by his own colleagues of compromising too much with
the Tories. Cable shot into the spotlight when he famously likened
Gordon Brown to Mr Bean.

What is more, Cable has reportedly been having private chats with the Labour leader Ed Miliband. One can only surmise that this has been about the prospect of a Lib Dem-Labour link-up if the next general election proves inconclusive. And, of course, Cable would be far better placed than Clegg to secure such a deal.

But although most Liberal Democrats would probably prefer Cable to lead them, the Tories certainly would not tolerate the idea of a man, allegedly flirting with Labour, being given any more power and influence in a Tory-led Coalition.

The Coalition is looking ever more creaky as each day passes and any change in the Liberal Democrat leadership would probably hasten its disintegration, which would probably not lead to any shedding of tears on the Tory benches at Westminster.

Cable is an accomplished ballroom dancer, a polished twinkletoes at the Palais de Danse.

But politically he is heavy-footed and liable to tread on too many toes - a man with two left feet - to be acceptable to his present Coalition partners.